Ocak yanıyor.

The stove is on.

Breakdown of Ocak yanıyor.

• ocak: the stove
• yanmak: to burn

Questions & Answers about Ocak yanıyor.

What does Ocak mean in this sentence? How do I know it’s not January?

Ocak in Turkish can mean both stove/hearth and the month January. You decide from context: here we’re clearly talking about something that “burns,” so it’s the stove. Note that in Turkish months are lowercase except at the start of a sentence, so the initial capital O is just because it’s the first word—not because it’s the month.

Why is there no article before Ocak? How would I say “a stove” vs. “the stove”?

Turkish has no words for the or a/an. You just use the noun by itself.

• “A stove is on” → Bir ocak yanıyor.
• “The stove is on” → Ocak yanıyor.
  Whether it’s definite or indefinite comes from context or by adding bir for “a.”

Why is the verb yanıyor used here instead of yanar or the infinitive yanmak?

Turkish has different verb aspects:

• yanmak = “to burn” (infinitive)
• yanar = simple present (“it burns” as a general fact)
• yanıyor = present continuous (“it is burning/it is on right now”)
  Here we need “is burning/on right now,” so we use yanıyor.

How do I break down yanıyor into its root and suffixes?

1. Start with the dictionary form yanmak.
2. Remove the infinitive ending -mak, leaving the root yan-.
3. Add the present‐continuous suffix -(ı)yor, giving yan-ıyor.
4. Contraction/phonetics yield yanıyor.

Why is the suffix spelled -ıyor instead of -iyor or -uyor?

This is vowel harmony. The present‐continuous suffix is written -(I)yor, where I becomes ı, i, u, ü to match the last vowel of the root:

• If the root has a or ı → suffix vowel is ı → -ıyor
• If the root has e or i → suffix vowel is i → -iyor
• If the root has o or u → suffix vowel is u → -uyor
• If the root has ö or ü → suffix vowel is ü → -üyor
  Here yan- has a, so we use -ıyor.

What is the word order in Ocak yanıyor? Can I say Yanıyor ocak?

Turkish basic word order is Subject–Object–Verb. With no object, it’s Subject–Verb: Ocak (S) yanıyor (V). You can invert for emphasis (e.g. Yanıyor ocak! to stress “it’s the stove that’s on!”), but the neutral order is S–V.

Where is the stress in yanıyor? Is it on the first syllable?

Most Turkish words are stressed on the last syllable. yanı-YOR has the primary stress on yor.

What’s the difference between yanmak and yakmak? Why not Ocak yakıyor?

• yanmak is intransitive: “to burn,” “to be/ get on (a flame or light).”
• yakmak is transitive: “to burn something,” “to light/ignite something.”
  Ocak yanıyor = “The stove is burning (i.e. on).”
  Ocak yakıyor would mean “The stove is burning something else,” which isn’t what you want here.

How do I turn Ocak yanıyor into a question or negative?

• Question “Is the stove on?” → add the question particle -mu after the verb:
Ocak yanıyor mu?
• Negative “The stove is not on” → insert -ma before -yor:
Ocak yanmıyor.

Can I say Radyo yanıyor or TV yanıyor to mean “the radio/TV is on”?

No. yanmak is used for literal flames or lights (candle, lamp, stove). For electronics you say:

• Radyo açık. (“The radio is on,” literally “Radio is open.”)
• TV çalışıyor. (“The TV is working/on.”)
  “Yanıyor” wouldn’t be used for those devices.